After Ancestral Dragon left, the atmosphere atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass remained heavy.
No one cheered.
No one spoke of it.
That Dragon Clan lord had merely cast down a single thought, yet everyone in Abyss had felt the true pressure of one of the Three Clans' overlords.
Even though the Emperor had calmly handled the exchange, the shock in everyone's hearts lingered for a long time.
Ao Lie stood at the Outer Gate, staring toward the Eastern Sea, his entire body seemingly frozen in place.
Ancestral Dragon's final words kept echoing through his mind.
Since you are willing to uphold Abyss's rules, uphold them to the end.
Do not bring shame upon the Dragon Clan.
Ancestral Dragon had not called him a traitor to his clan.
Nor had he ordered him to return to the Blackwater Dragon Palace.
He had even assumed that Ao Lie would continue guarding Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
The taut string in Ao Lie's heart suddenly loosened somewhat.
Yet another sentence weighed upon his heart like a massive boulder.
Should the Dragon Clan truly face a day of decline, this scale may protect one branch of the Dragon Clan Young Lineage and guide them into Abyss.
Why had Ancestral Dragon said that?
Would the Dragon Clan truly face a day of decline?
Had those words come from someone else, Ao Lie might have flown into a rage, argued back, or even drawn his blade against them.
But the one who had spoken them was Ancestral Dragon.
The lord of the Dragon Clan.
The overlord of the Four Seas.
What did it mean that even Ancestral Dragon had left behind a path of retreat for the Dragon Clan Young Lineage?
Ao Lie did not dare think too deeply about it.
Everything he had believed since childhood had developed a crack today.
The Dragon Clan was invincible.
The Dragon Clan was destined to rise.
The Dragon Clan would surely rule the Primordial World.
He had heard those words for countless years.
Yet the half Reverse Scale Ancestral Dragon had left within Dragon-Suppressing Pass seemed to be telling him:
Even the most prosperous Dragon Clan needed a thread of hope.
When Han Jue came to his side, Ao Lie was still lost in thought.
"Hey."
Ao Lie did not respond.
Han Jue frowned.
"Ao Lie."
Ao Lie finally came back to himself, his tone somewhat low.
"What is it?"
Han Jue looked at him.
"You look like your father just died."
Ao Lie's face darkened.
"If you don't know how to talk, then shut up."
Han Jue sat down beside him and looked toward the Eastern Sea as well.
"Are you thinking about the Reverse Scale Ancestral Dragon left behind?"
Ao Lie fell silent.
This time, he did not deny it.
Han Jue also unusually refrained from needling him further.
The two sat quietly like that for a long while.
At last, Ao Lie said in a low voice, "Han Jue, do you think the Dragon Clan will lose?"
Han Jue thought about it.
"I don't know."
Ao Lie looked at him.
Han Jue spoke very seriously. "I've never seen the real Ancestral Dragon make a move, nor have I seen Yuanfeng or Primordial Qilin fight with their lives on the line."
"I can't understand the grand currents at that level."
"But the Emperor said that the Three Clans have reached the height of their prosperity, and their karmic burden is already heavy."
"I believe the Emperor."
Ao Lie gave a bitter smile.
"So you think the Dragon Clan will lose too."
Han Jue shook his head.
"I just think no clan can keep winning forever."
Ao Lie fell silent.
Those words were simple.
Yet they were true.
The Dragon Clan had won for too long.
So long that many dragons had forgotten that the Primordial World had no eternal protagonist.
Han Jue looked at him and suddenly asked, "If the Dragon Clan truly loses, what will you do?"
A flicker of confusion passed through Ao Lie's eyes.
He did not know.
He was of the Dragon Clan.
Yet he was now guarding Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
He still had feelings for the Dragon Clan, but he had also formed attachments to Abyss.
If one day the Dragon Clan and Abyss stood on opposing sides, what should he do?
Seeing that he remained silent, Han Jue said directly, "I've already thought of an answer for you."
Ao Lie frowned.
"You thought of one for me?"
"That's right."
Han Jue patted the spear in his hand.
"You are the Outer Gate's defending general of Dragon-Suppressing Pass."
"If you follow the rules, I acknowledge you."
"If you break the rules, I beat you up."
Ao Lie froze.
Then he suddenly smiled.
It was a very faint smile.
"That's all?"
Han Jue replied as if it were only natural, "What else would there be?"
"Abyss doesn't care about your origins."
"Whether you're from the Dragon Clan or the Third Prince of the Blackwater Dragon Palace, once you enter Abyss, you have to follow Abyss's rules."
"If you follow them, I acknowledge you."
"If you don't, I beat you up."
Ao Lie lowered his head and looked at the Blackwater beyond Dragon-Suppressing Pass, suddenly feeling much more at ease.
Those words were crude.
They were even a little overbearing.
But that was precisely the simplest and most reassuring part of Abyss.
It did not ask about one's origins.
It only looked at the rules.
He did not need to immediately figure out the Dragon Clan's future.
He only needed to guard the Outer Gate of Dragon-Suppressing Pass well for now.
That was enough.
Ao Lie slowly let out a breath.
"Han Jue."
"Yeah?"
"Once my injuries have fully healed, let's have a fight in the Martial Practice Arena."
Han Jue's eyes lit up.
"Finally figured it out?"
Ao Lie sneered.
"I just think you talk too much and deserve a beating."
Han Jue burst into laughter.
"Fine, I'll wait for you."
In the distance.
Lan Shuang stood beneath the pass wall, looking at the two men's backs with a trace of relief in her eyes.
Ao Lie had made it through this trial of his Dao heart.
Ancestral Dragon's arrival had dealt him too great a blow.
Had he failed to emerge from it, Ao Lie might very well have become trapped between the Dragon Clan and Abyss in the future.
Han Jue seemed rough and reckless, yet with the simplest words, he had pulled Ao Lie back to Abyss's rules.
Lady Mingzhu came to Lan Shuang's side and said softly, "Ao Lie has changed a great deal."
Lan Shuang nodded.
"Dragon-Suppressing Pass has changed a great deal too."
From initially being a place where Ao Lie had been punished with gate duty, to now bearing Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale, this pass had truly become Abyss's first gateway facing the Three Clans.
It was also changing every person who remained here.
Deep within Abyss.
Lu Chen did not pay attention to Ao Lie for long.
He was comprehending the incomplete fifth level of the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method.
The more he comprehended it, the more he felt that Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale had arrived at just the right time.
The Reverse Scale contained extremely powerful Dragon Clan Fortune.
He did not absorb it directly. Instead, he used the Heaven-Deceiving Tortoise Shell to seal it within Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
After Dragon-Suppressing Pass dissolved this Fortune, it could instead stabilize the karma of the Water Clan within Abyss.
More importantly, Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale had given him an idea.
Old Shell Substitution could not merely be something left behind passively.
The Old Shell had to possess sufficient qualifications to bear fate.
Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale could shelter the Dragon Clan Young Lineage.
If Yuanfeng also left behind a token, and Primordial Qilin likewise left behind a mark.
Then part of the karma of the Three Clans' Flame Seeds would flow into Abyss's Old Shell.
When the time came for Heaven Mending in the future, the heavier the Merit, karma, and Fortune borne by Lu Chen's Old Shell, the more it would resemble the "Northern Sea Black Tortoise" required by the Heavenly Dao.
And the easier it would be for Lu Chen's true body to escape.
He suddenly understood why the system had always encouraged him to shelter living beings fleeing tribulations.
This was not only strengthening Abyss.
It was also giving his Old Shell greater qualifications to "bear fate."
"So that's how it is."
Lu Chen felt exhilarated.
"The more people I save, the more valuable the Old Shell becomes."
"The more valuable the Old Shell becomes, the better it can support the heavens in my place in the future."
"This is a good thing."
Of course, the danger would also grow.
After all, the more important Abyss became, the more it would draw the attention of great powers.
But things had already come to this point. He could no longer drive everyone out.
Then he could only continue reinforcing his tortoise shell.
Continue perfecting the shell-shedding method.
Continue repeatedly dancing along the edge of the Great Tribulation.
The system notification sounded at that moment.
"Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale has entered Abyss. The Fortune of Abyss's Water Clan has stabilized." " Ao Lie's Dao heart has initially stabilized. The Fortune of the Outer Gate of Dragon-Suppressing Pass has increased." Chaos Shell-Shedding Method, fifth-layer fragment integration increased.
Lu Chen was in a very good mood.
Though Ancestral Dragon's visit had been frightening, the gains had been enormous.
Dragon-Suppressing Pass's status had risen.
Ao Lie's state of mind had stabilized.
The Fortune of Abyss's Water Clan had stabilized.
The Chaos Shell-Shedding Method had progressed.
This had been a profitable haul.
He muttered instinctively.
"Ancestral Dragon really is a good person."
The moment the words left his mouth, Lu Chen abruptly stopped.
No.
He couldn't say things like that carelessly.
The great powers of the Primordial World were all incredibly sensitive.
What if Ancestral Dragon had a sudden whim one day and sensed him talking about him behind his back? Who knew what might happen?
Lu Chen decided to praise the great powers of the Primordial World less in the future.
Better yet, he should think about them less too.
Eastern Sea Ancestral Dragon Palace.
After the Ancestral Dragon Dao Thought returned, Ancestral Dragon sat alone in the main hall for a long time.
No dragon in the hall dared disturb him.
A mass of murky gray waterlight appeared in his hand.
It was the aura of the Grand Dream Black Tortoise that his Dao Thought had seen outside Abyss.
He tried to deduce Lu Chen's true body.
But whenever his deductions reached deeper, they were blocked by the Heaven-Deceiving Tortoise Shell and the Abyssal Womb Membrane.
In the end, all he could see was a stretch of Blackwater.
Deep within Blackwater, an enormous Black Tortoise slept.
Ancestral Dragon slowly withdrew his hand.
"I can't see through it."
If those three words got out, the entire Dragon Clan would be shaken.
Ancestral Dragon actually couldn't see through a Northern Sea Black Tortoise.
A moment later, Ancestral Dragon spoke.
"Pass down my order."
"Do not act on the matter of Abyss for now."
"If any young branch of the Dragon Clan suffers calamity, they may follow the aura of the Reverse Scale to seek a thread of survival in the Northern Sea."
From the shadows of the hall, a Dragon Clan expert said softly, "Your Majesty, are you truly going to entrust the young branches to Abyss?"
Ancestral Dragon's gaze remained calm.
"It is only leaving them a way out."
"The Dragon Clan may not necessarily use it."
"But if it truly comes to that..."
He paused for a moment.
"Northern Sea Abyss may be safer than any water palace of the Dragon Clan."
The Dragon Clan expert was deeply shaken.
He did not dare ask any further questions.
"Your command shall be obeyed."
Ancestral Dragon gazed into the distance.
The Fortune of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans was constantly colliding above the Primordial World.
He could sense that the true great war was drawing nearer and nearer.
That Black Tortoise of Abyss had been right.
The three clans had reached the height of their prosperity, and their karmic burden had already grown heavy.
But now, none of them could retreat.
Ancestral Dragon closed his eyes.
"Black Tortoise."
"Can you see the end?"